The river press., 1887-04-06
SMUGGLED DIAMONDS.

S,-uggler to save the goods he was trying
IN smuggle, and [ don't think [ did any
wrong by it, said ship chandler, of this
CITY, to o group of sea captains who had
assembled in the snug little office of his
well stocked store one afternoon recently.
The surprise which this announcement had
provoked gave place to expressions of
curiosity on the part of the assembled cap
tains, and the chandler proceeded to eX-
nlain his innocent connection with the
smuggling industry.
teWhen was about 10 years old" said
the chandler, II went to sea. Ishipped as
cook on an American bark, which finally
landed me in Liverpool, where was paid
off. After | got rid Of my wages l looked
about for another ship. / found berth
As cook on All American bark of 600 tons,
which was bound for Savannah. The cap
tain was Il quiet sort of man, with small
HACK ewes, each OF which looked as il it
was trying to keep what it was doing from
the other The day before the bark
sailed long, narrow box came on
board, and the captain had it slowed
away carefully in his stateroom. The
box locked as though it might con-
tain a coffin. I made up my mind that
there was a body inside, but as / wasn't
superstitious myself didn't pay much at
tention to the matter at the time. The
crew looked like tough men. They were
hard cases, as a rule, but they seemed
willing enough to do their work-all ex-
cept two These were big, brawny Irish
man we called Dublin Nike and q wiry,
Spanish-looking chap named Tony. Mike
ard Tony wero always telling the other
chaps that they were working too hard,
ard were advising them to stand up for
their rights We had q good run for about
three weeks, and had made the better part
of the voyage, when q heavy northerly
gale set in There was good deal of iron
in the cargo, and that made the bark labor
badly She strained SO much that she
Sprang bad leak. The pumps had to be
kept going nearly all the time. The gale
lasted several days, and we drifted con-
siderably to the southwark. The men got
tired Of working so much at the pumps
and then it leaked out about the strange
looking box in the captains stateroom.
No wonder we have bad luck, said
DubIin Mike, with that stiff on board
and the chap began to work OIL the super
stitiOus feeling of the men by telling them
that no ship with dead body on board
was ever known to get through voyage
without trouble.
'eThat night, at four bells in the dog
Ii.
the captain. The skipper came OUT of the
cabin looking sort of scared and asked the
men what they wanted. Mike, who was
spokesman, said that they couldn't stand
it any longer with q dead body on board.
The body had got to go overheard, or else
the ship would go down. The skipper
said that the idea that dead body could
bring any harm to ship was all nonsense,
and he told the men to go forward Then
Tony cried out to the men to follow him
ard made dash toward the cabin door.
81 stop men, cried the captain there
amt any body in that box.
s'Tony and the rest stopped
q That box, the captain went on to
SLY has only got some silks in it that
want to get through without duty. Per
haps there's some diamonds in with the
silks, and perhaps there's more diamonds
shan there is silks I'm going to put into
Bermuda for repairs We're within two
Gays sail of Bermuda now
. But, said Tony, If we help you to
save the diamonds and silks you ought to
divide with us when we get to Savannah. ,
9" And so [ will, said the skipper,
mike swore that the captain ought to
open the box and show the men that there
was really no body i'll it. Tony seized
Mike by the arm and whispered something
to him i'll an angry tone. Mike then staIIl
mered and said that he would take the
captains word for it, and all went for
ward quietly.
''The wind was fair during the next
tWentyfour hours, and the next night
when turned in / understood that the
chances were that we would reach Ber-
nluda some time in the morning. The
watch on deck had been Keeping the pumps
going nearly all the time, and / could hear
mem clicking rs fell asleep slept i'll
little statetoom right aft of the forccaStle.
There was Il little air hole in the bulkhead
between my room and the forecastle. l
rad frequently heard what was going on
IN the fOrccastle, but bad never paid much
attention to it. That night | woke up
feeling kind of uncomfortable. l heard
voices in the forecastle. ! tancied that
The watches had just been changed and
tried TO 20 to sleep again, but / could not.
The talking i'll the forecastle kept on
This surprised me, because the men
usually went TO sleep the moment they
turned in. I put my ear up to the air
hole and listened.
'''What will we do with The cookg I
heard a sailor say.
"'They'll " lock him in just before eight
bells, replied a voice which ] recognized
as Mikes.
"Then heard noise AS if my door and
the shutters over my window were being
fastened. got up softly and felt my door,
found that had been fastened in 7
climbed back into my berth and, putting
my ear to the hole, listened again.
What will become OF the poor cook
locked up there?' / heard the sailor ask.
The same as will become of the ship,
replied Mike, with laugh.
IA chilly, awful kind of feeling came
over me when he said this $3.50
At eight bells we begin, he continued.
Il heard eight bells strike and then
heard the men rush out of the forecastle.
An instant later heard several pistol
shots fired. This was followed by loud
shouts and something which sounded like
the smashing in OF doors. Then heard
several more pistol shots, and then every.